Vikings Sign DT Kenrick Ellis, Place DT Shamir Stephen On I.R.

The Minnesota Vikings announced Tuesday that they’ve signed DT Kenrick Ellis to a contract and placed DT Shamir Stephen on season-ending injured reserve.

Ellis, 27, is a former third-round pick of the Jets back in 2011. He signed a one-year, $1.475 million contract with the Giants back in March, but wound up being released after they claimed DT Louis Nix off of waivers from the Texans.

Ellis had been on and off of the Giants’ active roster since then.

In 2014, he appeared in 14 games for the Jets and recorded 12 tackles and a sack. Pro Football Focus has him down for playing just 158 snaps last year, but he did grade out as a solid run-stopper.

Stephen, 24, was taken in the seventh round of last year’s NFL draft. He’s in the second year of his four-year, $2,285,148 rookie contract and stands to make a base salary of $510,000 for the 2015 season.

His 2015 season comes to an end with him recording three tackles and a fumble recovery over the course of five games.